APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE
With this note we wish to introduce a marvellous person, whom we have known for several years now, and who has become the first SOFA-member in Colombo recently.
Her name is Udayangani Jayawardana. When one enters her small house one is welcomed by 100 dogs and Udayangani’s ever-smiling face and her father, who sometimes gets annoyed at the ever increasing population, but also has a heart full of compassion and helps his daughter by looking after the dogs while she is working as a secretary in the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation. When one looks around the big family slowly one notices the more quiet members sitting here and there: 30 cats, some sleeping on the tables and shelves (chairs are occupied by dogs), others walking freely amongst the dogs without fear, but three of them stay in a big kennel because they are new and some of the dogs tolerate the cats, which have been there for some time, but not the new ones.
What made Udayangani adopt all these animals? Each one has his own history, some were dumped at her place as puppies or kittens. Some were rescued from the dog-pound. Some had met with an accident and then were taken in by her for treatment and later on it was difficult to return them back to the street. Some could not be returned because they remained handicapped even after the treatment. So in the course of the years the family has grown.
To avoid further dumping from the neighbourhood, she has got most of the female cats and dogs around sterilized. At the Kolonnawa Branch of the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation, where she works, she has got more than fifty dogs sterilized and since she could not pay all that from her salary, she has approached the management and got financial support for the sterilizations and vaccination as well, but that does not cover the expenses completely. With the help of the Society for the Protection of Animalrights (SPAR) she also was able to arrive at an agreement with the management, that within the 100 acres compound the dogs will be safe, the municipal dog van is not allowed to seize dogs there to be killed. Another 20 dogs are yet to be sterilized, which she will do in the course of this year, these are the shy and fearful animals, which could not be made tame so far, but by giving something to eat daily, slowly she will be able to make friends with them also.
Some Veterinary Doctors are helping Udayangani by reducing the charges, some even give treatment free of charge, but all the transport expenses, drugs and food for the animals she spends from her salary. None of the animal welfare organisations in Colombo has come to help her work, only SOFA has contributed to her expenses for the cats from the “Poose”-account, a special fund for cats. What she has already achieved at her working place and in her immediate neighbourhood could be expanded if we could raise some funds for her to continue her service. Since she is a member of SOFA, donations towards her efforts could be made to the SOFA account with a special remark: FOR UDAYANGANI
We would be very happy to help from our present funds, but have to use them sparingly because of the immense costs of our programme in Kandy. Therefore we appeal to all those, who have helped us so far, to think of our first member in Colombo also.
Thank you.
SOFA